


things have changed, as we've all grown

by woozi



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, also really shitty, really fucking corny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 17:13:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6865618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woozi/pseuds/woozi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide wants to propose to Kaneki, he needs Hinami's blessing first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	things have changed, as we've all grown

**Author's Note:**

> i dont know man

The first person Hide asks is Hinami.

 

It’s weird, and awkward, because Hide’s only talked to her a handful of times in his life. He frequently sees everyone else from Anteiku whenever he stops by, but Hinami is never present. However, he knows the bond between her and Kaneki, so he deems it appropriate to talk to her first. Kaneki didn’t have parents anymore, and judging how Hinami viewed him was somewhat parental, she’d give him an honest opinion - he thinks.

 

He knocks and introduces himself through the door, and lets himself in when Hinami tells him to. She’s reading at her desk when he opens the door, and doesn’t even look up when he shuts the door behind him. He doesn’t want to be nosey, but his chest warms when peers at what she’s reading sees the sticky notes full of Kaneki’s neat handwriting stuck on the page, and plenty more sticking out of pages she’s already read; telling her definitions of difficult words and explaining context. There are other books stacked on her desk, more sticky notes full of Kaneki’s personal ratings and summaries of them and lists of things the books include that he thinks Hinami would like stuck to the covers. Hide vaguely thinks of it as nerdy, but it’s also a little cute and unsurprising of his boyfriend.

 

“I need to ask you something.” He sits on the floor, since there’s not another chair in her room.

 

She looks up from her book and up at him for the first time and startles a little, like it didn’t register with her that he had entered. “Okay.” She says and dog-ears the page, setting her book down. _The Black Goat’s Egg_ , the cover reads.

 

“So…” He starts, because he’s not sure how to talk to a fourteen year old about this, “You know Kaneki very well, right?”

 

Her expression hardens into something protective before it calms, and even if he would have missed it if he blinked, it surprises Hide.

 

“Yes.” She plays with the hem of her skirt. “He taught me how to read.”

 

Hide gives a slow nod. “And you know I’m dating him, right?”

 

Hide has never talked one on one with her before, and even though she had always been quiet and reserved while with the others at Anteiku, he wouldn’t have guessed she was like this. Kind of like Kaneki, weirdly enough. “Yes.” She says again.

 

“See, we’ve been dating for a few years, but I’ve known him since grade school,” Hide notices her long lashes flutter, brown eyes looking anywhere but him, “And I think it’s time I propose to him because I don’t wanna just date him forever, but I thought you would be able to tell me if I should or not.” 

 

“Propose…” Hinami parrots, still playing with her skirt. Hide quickly remembers the notes in her book and somewhat recalls Kaneki telling him that Hinami was homeschooled and wasn’t very literate. Obviously better at reading since Kaneki had began teaching her, but he assumed there were still words she didn’t know because it was never relevant.

 

“Like, I want to marry him. Your parents were married.” He brings up carefully, knowing Hinami’s mother had passed only a couple months back and he wasn’t sure how she handled her parents being addressed. The situation was glossed over by the time he was told about it, but he was smart enough to know it was extremely traumatizing for the young girl. Kaneki had even cried about it while telling him, still feeling guilty for not doing anything about it after so much time had passed.

 

She freezes and looks at him then, quizzical. “You love him? Like that?”

 

Hide grows a little shy, because he didn’t think she would be acting like this. He didn't really know how to describe her personality other than naive, didn't know how to speak to someone so unworldly. “Yeah,” he confirms, “I love him. Like that.”

 

Hinami hums, idly fixing her headband before she speaks again. “Nii-chan talks about you a lot. He loves you a lot, I can tell. I think you should… He trusts you, so as long as you don’t hurt him...”

 

Hide believes the only person who knows as much as he does about Kaneki is Hinami, considering how she’s acting. He’s not sure if she knows he knows, but before he dwells too much on that, his thoughts break off when he hears _I think you should_.

 

“Really?” He asks, bewildered, he didn’t think it’d be so easy.

 

“Yes. He’d be happy.” Hinami assures, and Hide wants to hug her, but refrains since their wall hasn’t quite been broken down yet. He grabs for her hand instead, and she lets him.

 

"Thank you." He breathes. He thinks he would have proposed anyway even if Hinami didn’t want him to, but he feels so relieved that she doesn’t hate him, or something. Her opinion means the most, so if Hinami didn’t like him, he wasn’t sure how he would have gone about the situation happily.

 

“I have a ring,” He brings up suddenly. He registers it pressing into his butt since he’s been sitting on the floor for a while, “Want to see it?”

 

Hinami perks up a little, sits up straight in her chair. “Yeah! Let me.”

 

Hide leans to the opposite side the ring is on to work the box out of his pocket, and when he goes to open it he notices his hands are shaking. He’s nervous when he sees the ring, a simple silver band, with something engraved on the inside that he won’t bring up unless Hinami asks. He places it in her open palm, and she inspects it carefully.

 

“He’ll like it. I think a diamond would make him nervous.” Hinami says after a few silent minutes of her examining the band and Hide waiting anxiously. He figured Kaneki would refuse to wear something with a diamond, in fear of losing it or ruining it, so he went simple, but it still means just as much.

 

She hands the ring back, and Hide delicately puts it back in the box, puts the box back in his pocket. “Tell me one thing though.”

 

Hide looks up at her. “Hm?”

 

“Why do you love Nii-chan?”

 

Hide bites his lip, and feels his cheeks heat. No ones ever asked him that, not even Kaneki. “Um,” he tries to think of an answer that doesn’t sound dumb, “If you didn’t know by now, Kaneki and I contrast completely. Before him, I think I had read like, one book. We met when we were really little though, so.”

 

“Kaneki’s been through a lot, through things he probably doesn’t want you to know, but it doesn’t matter now. Back then, I had never felt so strongly towards someone before. I don’t know if it was because of his family situation, or just because. But I knew with my dumb little kid mind that I had to stick with this other little kid for a long time… and none of this really answers your question does it?”

 

Hinami giggles slightly, and Hide registers a sting in his eyes, he pushes through the embarrassment because Hinami’s most likely already seen it, and continues.

 

“Despite everything that’s happened to that boy, he’s still moving on. He’s the best thing ever that’s happened to me, because somehow, out of everything ugly that’s to him happened until now, has created something really beautiful between us. He’s strong, and he makes me strong. He gives me a reason to keep going. You’re so lucky to have him as a teacher, Hinami, everyone who meets him is so lucky.”

 

Hinami has moved to sit next to him on the floor, and Hide flinches when slim fingers are wiping his wet face. He’s not a crier, at least not compared to Kaneki, so letting Hinami see this part of him seems like they just skipped a hundred steps.

 

“That’s funny,” she muses, “Nii-chan says the same about you.”

 

 

 

Exactly one week later, after he feels he’s put himself through enough mental preparation, Hide’s getting down on one knee at the park he met Kaneki at when they were kids. Kaneki cries, and he cries, and Hide tells him what the engraving reads before he slips the band on his finger.

 

_You’re home._

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in like an hour or two so i hope it's not too bad! also sorry i never include any damn context in my works i just pick a time period and go with it... for me i had kaneki with black hair before things got too shitty in mind while writing this and just threw hide in there haha. but interpret it however you want


End file.
